


In Plain Sight

by RobinTrigue



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Crushes, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Practice Kissing, drinking in an IHOP at one AM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-19 03:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8188250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinTrigue/pseuds/RobinTrigue
Summary: Stephanie McMahon thinks having these two WWE superstars be a confirmed couple will do wonders for Raw’s ratings. Sami thinks tricking his potential boss with this little white lie will be completely worth having his best friend by his side once again. Finn thinks it’ll be a miracle if he manages to survive until the draft given that he’s already hopelessly in love with the man who’s pretending to date him.





	1. Our what?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dahdeemohn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahdeemohn/gifts).



“Please, sit,” Stephanie McMahon said. Sami and Finn looked at each other nervously, but sat down. It felt uncomfortably like being called into the head teacher’s office. She took her seat at the other side of the desk.

“There’s no need to look worried, you’ve done nothing wrong,” she laughed. “Now, it’s no secret that the draft is happening next week. And Finn, I’m sure it’s no secret that we’ve all been waiting for you to debut on the main roster for oh, it feels like years now!”

“I’m very flattered, it’s a thrill to be working with the WWE,” said Finn politely. Sami could probably feel how he was secretly vibrating with excitement, because he pressed a foot gently against Finn’s shaking leg under the desk. Finn shot him a quick smile of gratitude.

“Well, we’re thrilled to be working with _you_ ,” Stephanie said. “And I’m positive you’ll be snapped up very quickly when the draft starts. So, as future head of Raw, I wanted to ask you both, how comfortable do you feel revealing your relationship to the WWE Universe at this time?”

Their what?

“Our what?” asked Finn.

“It wouldn’t have to be on camera, not immediately,” Stephanie assured them, which still didn’t quite answer Finn’s question. “But if it’s on record with the company, it’ll be a lot easier to gun for having you both on the same show! Plus, imagine the crowd response if you tagged together, or – not that we condone outside interference – interfered with each others’ feuds... We could sell merchandise...” She seemed to become lost in thought for a moment, during which Finn became very interested in the pictures on the far wall, trying desperately to catch Sami’s reaction in his peripheral vision as discreetly as he could.

 Stephanie shook herself from her reverie. “So? What do you say?”

Finn licked his lips to stall time, not sure where to begin. “Ms McMahon, we’re not-“

“-ready! Not ready, we’d need to, ah, discuss it first, with each other,” interrupted Sami. Finn kicked at him under the desk, and Sami kicked back. “Please, could my boyfriend, _Finn_ , and I have some time to talk this over?”

“Of course!” she assured. “Just be sure to get back to me before the weekend, so me and Mick can plan our draft picks thoroughly. I hope to see the _both_ of you very soon.”

 

They left the office, listened to make sure the door closed, and then Finn marched Sami down to the far end of the corridor and flipped him so they faced each other.

“Sami...”

“Finn!” Sami beamed. “Isn’t it _great?_ ”

“Sami,” said Finn, trying to stay calm and businesslike even though Sami was smiling so close to him. “Have you forgotten that _we aren’t dating?_ ”

Sami’s shoulders drooped slightly. He kicked at a spot on the floor with one shoe. “I know _that_ ,” he muttered, before looking back up, eyes full of something like hope. “But Finn, don’t you see? Stephanie’s going to fight for us to be on Raw together! Don’t you want that? We could work together every day again, hang out on the weekends, not have to worry about touring schedules...”

Finn _did_ want that, he wanted it more than anything, those lazy days spent kayaking together, or watching cartoons on Sami’s couch, laughing through bowls of cereal. He got so caught up in the pleasant memories that he almost missed it when Sami said quietly, “I’ve missed you.”

Finn pulled him into a hug, remembering just a few seconds too late to pat Sami’s back in a platonic bro way. Sami didn’t seem to notice though. He was pretty bad with social cues like that.

“I’ve missed you too,” he said, and Sami pulled away to smile like that at him again, _help_.

“They must be trying to push a story,” Sami said pensively. “You know, how they always make those videos before big matches, about how these two have been mortal enemies ever since blah blah blah? It’ll be nice for them to air one that’s all positive.”

Oh right, that’s what they were talking about. Finn ran his hands through his hair again. “Yes, but Sami, we still _aren’t_ in a relationship.”

“Couldn’t we pretend?” asked Sami, voice a little weak. “Only for a few weeks, only until the contracts are all signed. I want us to... to be on the same show.”

Finn _did_ want to... be on the same show as Sami. _And where’s the harm, right?_ he thought, pushing away the tightness in his chest that came as he looked at Sami now, his left arm still hanging loosely onto Sami’s right. It would only be a few weeks of trying to convince Stephanie something was up between them, not too difficult as she seemed to already think something was. And then they’d be free, free to spend as much time together as they liked. Perfect, really. What could go wrong?

“Sure thing,” Finn said, “ _boyfriend._ ” He couldn’t stop himself from grinning silly as he said it, but that was fine; Sami didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual, because he was smiling back.

 

“So what’s our plan here?” asked Finn over the phone that night. “Just... dating?”

After the meeting, Sami had muttered something about needing to get groceries, and Finn had muttered something about needing to head to his hotel room, so they’d parted ways. For Finn, it had been an excuse to sit with his head in his hands for an hour, trying desperately to figure out how on earth he was going to survive having Sami Zayn pretend to be in love with him for an entire fortnight. There was a hysterical few minutes where he became convinced the best way to avoid letting himself fall too deep would be to write ‘it’s fake’ across his knuckles as a reminder, until he remembered that would defeat the entire purpose of convincing others it was real. 

Sami pretending to like him would probably mean Sami being even more affectionate than usual. Oh _fuck_.

Suddenly sweaty, Finn put the phone down for a second, switching to speaker so he could pull his shirt off.

“I suppose so,” Sami replied. He didn’t sound too certain. Finn frowned; he’d been relying on Sami to be the one to figure out the particulars of this plan, since he himself was too busy trying to process that it was happening. “I guess we take photos of ourselves doing things as if we were dating? Build up a body of evidence, as it were? That way if the draft splits us, we’ll be able to protest it.”

Past drafts had split up active tag teams, but Finn didn’t want to say that out loud. After all, what’s wrong with hoping for a while? That they could be on the same show, that is. Perhaps even wrestle together onscreen, who knows. Be _together_ more, onscreen.

Finn knew Sami must know about the past drafts, wrestling nerd that he was, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by it. He was probably convinced Shane and Stephanie were kinder, gentler than their father when it came to managing talent. Finn let himself ignore all reason and hope this was the case.

“Finn? Does that sound... alright?”

“Yeah! Yeah, it sounds brilliant, Sami!” Finn swallowed. “So we’d better plan our schedules, since I’m only up north until Monday. Get a lot of ‘photo opportunities’ in?”

“Great!” Sami sounded happier through the receiver than mere scheduling ought to make a person. “That sounds really great, Finn!”

Finn pulled up his phone’s calendar. “Right, Friday afternoon I have... oh, no, that’s with you, we were going to see that exhibit together. Saturday I have tickets for Ghostbusters, but you know that, that’s with you also...” Through his embarrassment, he could feel his accent coming in thicker than he usually let it. God, how pathetic must he sound to Sami, like he doesn’t have any other friends at all. Finn had long ago made peace with being an introvert, but it made times like this feel like he had no kind of a life at all. He racked his brains to think of anything, _anything_ that might make him sound minutely cooler.

However, Sami chuckled. “I think the only specific plan I have this week other than those two is to get a haircut,” he admitted.

A haircut? Finn hoped his frown wouldn’t carry over the phone, feeling ridiculous for even reacting. He liked Sami’s hair fluffy, that’s all!

“Don’t worry, not too short. I’ll keep it fluffy,” assured Sami, without Finn even saying anything.

“Oh, umm. Good. Oh! I’ve remembered something else I’m doing!” Finn winced a little, wishing he didn’t sound so triumphant over something so minor. “Tomorrow, brunch with Becky.”

“Excellent!” said Sami, sounding genuinely pleased. “She was telling me about this really interesting café actually, you can blend beans from their selection yourself and they grind them right in front of you! And there’s these burgers with garlicky portobellos and-”

“-and blue cheese?” hazarded Finn, smiling down at his phone as Sami responded with an enthusiastic _yes_. “I love that café, it’s my favourite place to come whenever I’m up here. You should join us! I’d love to show you!”

Sami loved the idea, his momentary hesitation over whether Becky would mind swept away by the tide of his babbling over how long it had been since he and Becky had hung out together, all the things he’d have to tell her.

A strange sensation crept over Finn as he listened, his smile turning to a frown. “We don’t have to lie to Becky, do we?” he asked. The word _lie_ clanged awkwardly in his brain, like they were committing some unpardonable sin, when it was really only... it was really just... He swallowed, wishing the sentence didn’t sound so _bad_ , wishing there was another way to phrase the situation. Becky was his oldest friend in the industry was all he’d meant.

“Oh!” Apparently it sounded bad to Sami too, because he was quiet for several seconds. Finn stared at his phone, lying flat in the middle of his bed, and listened to Sami breathing all static-y. “Oh, no, Finn, of course we don’t,” Sami said.

“Okay! I didn’t mean-”

“We don’t have to do any of this, you know,” continued Sami hastily. “I was being too forward earlier, I acted rashly, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Sami, no!” Finn’s mouth felt dry, his heart racing with some kind of panic over an emotion he was desperately trying to quash. “Sami, it’s a brilliant plan, I’m happy to follow your lead!”

“Are you sure?” His friend’s voice sounded small through the phone. Finn hit the lightswitch and took off his trousers, curling up in the large, cool hotel bed with his phone in his hand. He switched off speaker and pressed it to his ear.

“Dead sure,” he promised. “I want to do this. You’re kind of a genius, you know.” He wasn’t sure how much emotion he let show through, probably too much, but it was worth it to hear Sami’s laugh.

“Should I let Stephanie know then?”

“I can do that,” Finn said. “You get to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow of sneakily falsifying evidence, International Superspy Sami Zayn.”

Sami chuckled. “Alright then, Special Agent Finn Balor. Goodnight.”

“Sleep well.”

There was a long moment where neither of them hung up, each breathing quietly into the receiver as though waiting for the other to say something more. Finally, Finn couldn’t bear it and hit ‘end call.’ The room was lit only by the harsh glow of his home screen, its background photo of his Sami and Finn action figures on his bookshelf sending his mind to confusing places. Before he let himself get carried away thinking about anything, he opened up his text app; it was late, but Ms McMahon would either be working late or have her phone silenced, right?

Taking a deep breath, he typed out at least four drafts, deleting them the moment he got to a word like ‘feelings’ or ‘relationship.’ Finally, he sent a simple, _Sami and I are on board._

 Only minutes later, the reply came: _Excellent! I’ll update Mick in the morning. Looking forward to seeing you both on Raw!_

Finn rubbed at his chest as he closed the app, action figures staring up at him once again. Then he rolled over, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations Deemohn on making it through a stressful time to a hopefully wonderful time! You're great and I'm happy for you! <3


	2. Concinving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which all of the dating is completely and totally pretend

Sami and Becky were already at a table when Finn arrived to the café the next day, deep in conversation about the latest gigs they’d been to. Finn smiled to himself as his friends waved to him, going to the counter to make his order before he sat down to join them. It was surprisingly easy to talk animatedly about the latest EP he’d purchased, feeling right at home with the two of them even though there were so many people around. Conversation flowed, everyone nodding and laughing and talking over one another; Sami didn’t even seem bored at all when the topic switched to craft beer, Becky and Finn comparing smaller and smaller breweries they’d sampled on various tours.

Finn wiped a greasy hand on his napkin, letting it rest on the table listened to Becky’s words. Then, all of the sudden, everything seemed to turn to white noise as he realised Sami was also leaning forward as he chuckled along to Becky’s anecdote. His hand moved as he laughed. It was right next to Finn’s, almost close enough to touch.

Like a Lego brick snapping into place, it clicked in Finn’s brain that he could reach out just an inch and take it, and then he and Sami would be holding hands. He could twine their fingers together. They could smile at each other, like an old couple, like this happened every day.

He could _hold Sami’s hand, every single day._

In the haze of the white noise, his eyes still zeroed in on Sami’s hand, he had no idea why he’d asked they not... perform? ...in front of Becky. It might have been the worst decision he’d ever made. Sami’s hand was _right next to his._

Then Becky finished her anecdote, Sami laughed and moved his hand to reach for his glass o water, and Finn was back at the table with his two totally platonic best friends. He swallowed, and shook his head slightly to clear it.

 “So Becks, Bayley said you need to tell me _everything_ before I head back down. She says I’ve been appointed official Horsewoman gossip conveyer.”

 

After brunch was over and Becky had bid them farewell, Sami and Finn walked a little ways down the road together, enjoying the shade of the trees in the summer heat. Finn felt full of good food. Also full of just a few nervous butterflies.

Now that Becky wasn’t with them, were they dating – ‘dating’? Was this the time to take Sami’s hand? Should he act natural, or was it better for their friendship if they clarified things first, like saying “I’m going to pretend to hold your hand now” each time they did anything? Finn snuck glances over to Sami every now and then, but if Sami did the same, he didn’t catch him at it.

“Are you still up for going to the museum?” he asked as they started to meander far enough from the café that they’d need to pick a direction to continue walking in. He tried to not make it sound like a delicate question.

“Yeah, the exhibit sounds great! And the perfect place to begin our devious plot!”

Finn couldn’t help laughing when Sami made jokes about this ridiculous situation. It _was_ silly, not a big deal at all. Just a couple of pals pulling a harmless prank on their boss. Shenanigans, like that time on Swerved.

“Well, oh devious one, have we got our cameras ready?” Finn asked, pulling out his phone.

Sami dove behind a florist’s display.

“Sami? What are you doing?”

“What’s that? I don’t know who you’re talking to, my name isn’t Sami. It’s International Superspy Zayn, Sami Zayn. Here to pull a covert intelligence operation on some of the greatest minds in the WWE!”

Finn’s belly hurt from laughing too hard, since that didn’t even come close to making sense. “Well Zayn, Sami Zayn, have you forgotten that in order to pull this operation we need to be in the photos together? It doesn’t work if I’m just snapping pictures of various bushes.”

Sami’s face popped up behind the leaves for just an instant to grin at him, then disappeared again. “Finn, what kind of a spy lets himself get caught that easily by monologuing?”

“Monologuing? I’m not monologuing, I thought the plan was to-” Before Finn could finish, Sami took off with a whoop and a holler, and Finn had to quickly pocket his phone and sprint after him.

“I’m after you, Zayn! You will be captured!”

He finally caught up to Sami, laughing, and they chased each other Scooby-Doo style around a tree. Finn took a swipe at Sami, trying to catch him, but only succeeded in knocking off his hat.

“There! I have you now!” he said, slipping into a Darth Vader impression for some reason, but Sami stuck his tongue out and ran towards the park.

“Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good!” he shouted over his shoulder. Finn put the hat on his own head so as not to lose it – Sami wouldn’t actually want it left behind – and ran after him. He lost sight of his quarry pretty quickly, and probably shouldn’t have been surprised when Sami jumped out at him from behind a bush, tackling him. They rolled on the grass together, each trying half-heartedly to pin the other as they swapped supervillain taunts. Finally, Finn trapped Sami beneath him and snapped a photo of the two of them laying there together. Their faces were slightly obscured by the stray leaves of the shrub they had rolled into, but the photo did fit the criteria of them both being happy and relaxed and together.

Suddenly, this whole project felt a lot easier than it had done before. Finn could _totally_ pretend to do this.

 

They lost a good chunk of the afternoon there on the grass, lying side by side in the sun and pointing out shapes in the clouds as they passed overhead. Finn didn’t want for it to end, but the second time he caught himself about to fall asleep, he knew it was time for them to get moving.

They decided to walk there, since it was such a nice day out. Finn nearly held Sami’s hand on the way.

 

The museum itself wound up being a blur, people and colours and sounds and the feeling of Sami’s arm around Finn’s waist as he drew them together for a selfie. Then another, this time with their arms linked. Finn took one of his own with his chin resting on Sami’s shoulder, close enough to smell crisp linen and a soap that was vaguely floral.

It was impossible to deny it: Finn had a crush on his best friend. He had done for a long, long time. He didn’t know whether he was blessed or cursed to have a crush who seemed to love hugging and platonic cuddles so much; by this point people were so used to Finn grinning stupidly the moment Sami walked into a room everyone must think it was his default state of being rather than an Irishman gone head over heels. He survived it, he would carry on surviving it forever if given the chance, but now there was no way to contradict the treacherous voice in his brain that whispered _Sami’s putting his hand on my chest, like a boyfriend would. Sami’s taking a picture with me, like a boyfriend does._

The problem, Finn was quickly realising as Sami took his hand for yet another photo, smile springing to his lips before his brain consciously registered what was even happening, would not be convincing the world that he was in love with Sami. It would be keeping Sami convinced that he _wasn’t._

 

“That was really interesting, it’s very different to what I expected when you said ‘comic book art,’” Sami said afterwards. Finn had parked his car halfway between the brunch spot and the museum, Sami’s a little further than that, but they were taking the scenic route back.

“I guess pop art isn’t exactly Marvel or DC,” Finn conceded with a smile.

“It was good though!” Sami added quickly. “Really interesting, about taking everyday things and making them larger than life. I’d never thought about those paintings out of context like that, the ones I recognised I’d always thought of as just... art?” He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I’m not good at talking about this stuff.”

“No, you’re right!” said Finn. “That’s what I love about going to special exhibits like this, I puts things in a new context. Art making everyday things larger than life, making _larger than life_ things larger than life – that’s what we do too, you know?” He waved his hand in a vague gesture that meant _all of wrestling._ “Putting weird stuff on pedestals like – like necromancers and strippers, or -”

“Or demons and luchadors?” teased Sami with a grin.

“Aye, or nerdy kids in Spider-Man body paint.” Finn bumped into Sami’s side playfully, and Sami bumped him back.

“So you really like this stuff, huh?”

“I suppose? I don’t know about the theory behind it or anything, but we had some Lichtenstein posters in the house growing up, so I think my da must’ve been a fan. Once on a school trip they took us to see the original Bedroom in Arles painting, and I was convinced Van Gogh had copied the pop version.”

Sami laughed, and Finn took a moment to enjoy watching him. They were walking a little too close together – they’d left the museum like that and never split apart. Finn felt like he was living on somebody else’s borrowed time, wandered into a parallel universe where everything was a little nicer than could possibly be real.

“Well, this is you,” Sami said. “I’ll be fine, I’m just down a couple blocks.”

“Alright,” Finn said. He leant against the roof of his car, not wanting the day to end. “Sami? I’ve been thinking...”

“Yes?” said Sami quickly.

“We’re ‘in’ a long-distance relationship, right? With you being up here and me down in Florida. So we’d probably be used to texting each other good morning and good night stuff. If we did that we could use those as more relationship proof, and for all our sneaky planning we’ll just call?” There was no way the McMahons could bug their phones, right?

“Finn, that is the best plan I have ever heard!” said Sami. “We make such a great team!”

“Jacket bros for life,” agreed Finn, holding his hand out for a fistbump. Sami met him halfway, complete with sound effects.

They stood there for a moment, Finn patting the roof of his car, keys in hand, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Alright! So! We’re still on for the film tomorrow night?”

“Yep! I’ll call you!” said Sami.

“Great!” Finn hesitated a moment, then gave Sami a hug before getting in his car. They always hugged. He shut the door, and immediately thought of something else to say.

Smiling to himself, feeling like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar, he pulled out his phone and texted, _Miss you already, babe._

He was hardly surprised at all when Sami tapped on his window, pressing his own phone to the glass and giving Finn a big thumbs up. They waved a goodbye for real as Finn started the ignition.

Right before he drove off, he felt his phone vibrate, and caught Sami looking over his shoulder in the rearview. The text read, _Miss you too, sweetheart._

 

Finn’s phone was charging on the far side of the room, so he didn’t see Sami’s text, _Good morning, my angel,_ until after he got up. He allowed himself precisely two minutes of false belief before shaking himself and replying, _Hey there, sunshine._

He was so good at these friendship japes.

His phone rang minutes later. “Finn, you slept in!” Sami said. “I was beginning to think you were joking about the morning texts!”

“I’m allowed to sleep in!” Finn protested. “And maybe you shouldn’t be calling me ‘angel,’ it messes with my demonic persona.”

“Nah, you’re totally my angel.” Finn reached over to grab a pillow, squeezing it. The hotel had nice pillows. Felt good to squeeze, is all. “I have my haircut in a couple minutes, but do you want to come over to my place and hang out before the movie? We could play video games or watch Rebels or whatever.”

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Finn said. They weren’t able to plan much further, since Sami had to go, so he collapsed back onto the bed for a few moments. His mind whirred to all sorts of places, things they could talk about, trying to remember which shirts he’d brought and which of them looked the nicest, before he shook himself. It was just hanging out with Sami. Like they always did. All he had to do was act normal and have a good time.

He got some cardio in and had breakfast and didn’t think about Sami’s voice saying ‘angel.’

 

It wound up being probably the worst afternoon of Finn’s life.

All of their _pretend_ ease around each other the day before, all of the actual ease that had been there when they’d hung out together the last few years, it had all vanished into the ether. It was less that Finn was struggling to remember how to interact with his friend Sami, and more that Finn was struggling to remember how to be a human person interacting with another human person.

Fucking hell.

Before even knocking on the door to Sami’s flat, he’d spent five solid minutes standing outside, trying to remember whether they hugged. (They mostly hugged but sometimes didn’t, and he couldn’t remember what made those times different from the other times, or whether this was one of the times.) When Sami opened the door, he seemed to be confused about the same thing, since they both initially spread their arms before deciding against it. Sami wound up standing to one side so Finn could pass, each edging around each other with their hands wide on either side like a pair of territorial crabs.

It only got worse when Finn sat on the sofa, and Sami hovered for ten seconds before settling himself in the armchair across the room. Usually they slumped on the sofa together, each trying to rest his legs on the other’s lap, arguing whether the privilege belonged to the tallest or to the title holder, winding up in a tangle of giggly limbs, but... but Finn didn’t have his title back yet, so it wouldn’t work, would it. Besides, they had to cuddle in public now, to prove that they were dating. There was no point being familiar behind closed doors, where no one could see. Much better to be regular friends, in the normal way.

The silence stretched, and growing tense until Sami finally broke it.

“I’m glad I got my hair cut,” he said, wincing, probably at how awkward it sounded. Finn didn’t care though, anything was better than them sitting silent and still on either side of the room from one another.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s always so much softer after a cut, feel!” Sami got up to lean over the coffee table, thrusting his smiling head towards Finn. Finn reached a hand out, then suddenly remembered that he and Sami _weren’t_ dating, that he had no right to actually run his fingers through those fluffy curls.

His palm gingerly brushed the tips of the red hair, just a quick pat, and then dropped back onto the sofa. “It feels really nice, Sami,” he said quickly. He hadn’t actually been paying attention to the feel at all.

Sami withdrew, lips tight. The silence returned.

“The movie’s been getting good reviews,” Finn said.

“I bet it’ll be even better than the original, I love Leslie Jones,” Sami replied.

Silence. Finn plucked at the fringe on a sofa cushion.

“We should go on a date with Neville tomorrow,” said Sami.

“What, him too?” Finn was a little startled. Sami _did_ have a lot of friends, but he wasn’t really going to try to get them _all_ on Raw this way, was he?

Sami wasn’t able to contain his laughter, and for a minute, things felt normal. Finn had to smile in embarrassment while Sami wiped a tear from his eye. “No, I mean _us_ go on a date with him _there_. Like a witness.”

“Oh.” Finn felt a strange mix of emotions, not helped by Sami grinning at him like that. It would be his last day in town, and he felt loathe to share his Sami time with another person, but having Neville around _would_ help with The Plan, and that was the whole point, wasn’t it? And... the thought of being able to drape himself over Sami in front of their friends, like he hadn’t been able to around Becky yesterday... “Yeah, let’s do it. That sounds great!”

“Wonderful! I’ll text him and ask him!” While Sami fiddled with his phone, Finn tried to regulate his facial features into something reasonable. They kept trying either to grin or to get all nervous, and neither seemed appropriate for ‘making casual weekend plans.’ Acting correctly here and now was starting to feel even harder than when he had to socialise with strangers, and it was making the simmering pool of anxiety in his belly turn up to a full boil.

“Should we put the TV on?” he asked, words tumbling out of his mouth in an rush. For the first time since showing Sami his Lego collection way back when, the awkwardness between them was tangible and overwhelming and awful.

“Sure! Okay!” Sami fumbled with grabbing remotes, then sat on the far, far end of the sofa. They both sat with their feet on the ground and their hands motionless in their laps until it was time to go.

 

The minute they got outside, Sami took Finn’s hand in his. It felt like every muscle in Finn’s body relaxed, and suddenly, they were both smiling again, back to their usual selves.

“The theatre’s not very far away,” Sami told him. His nails were well-groomed, but the skin on his fingers slightly rough like Finn’s from wrestling.

Finn knew where it was, had checked when he’d bought the tickets. “Wanna race?” he asked.

Sami laughed, and they took off down the street, skipping and swinging their arms, hand in hand, each trying to jump ever higher as they giggled.

 

The ‘race’ was a tie, perhaps predictable since neither released the other’s hand the entire way. They only separated when they got there to take more selfies – contractually required ones, of course. Finn refused to take more than five of the two of them doing back-to-back spy poses, protesting that they were about to watch Ghostbusters so should really be doing ghostbusting poses. They got a couple of Sami blasting Finn-as-Slimer, and a couple more of them as a ghostbusting team doing their best ‘oh shit, a ghost!’ faces. They were both wearing their novelty Ghostbusters t-shirts, and Finn honestly wouldn’t have expected any less from his best friend.

And the movie was great, it was fun, it was entertaining, Sami smiled at Finn in the dark when their hands brushed above the popcorn bucket. Just a really, really great movie, overall. Finn loved it.

Finn held Sami’s hand the whole way back, each of them using their free hand to talk animatedly about their favourite jokes, their favourite explosions, their favourite character interactions. They parted ways at the door to Sami’s building, but first they hugged.

It was a very, very long hug, but then again, it _had_ to be. They were out in public still. Finn _had_ to bury his face in Sami’s neck, suddenly overcome with a sort of tiredness that made him sigh and close his eyes. It was a comfortable, friendly hug.

Finn drove back to his hotel room, and they texted each other goodnight before falling asleep.

 

“You ready?”

They’d spent most of the morning plotting their story, in case Neville had any questions about their sudden affection for one another. Finn had suggested a shocking whirlwind romance, but Sami convinced him they should try to spin a ‘secret dating’ scenario instead, the irony of which made them both laugh.

“I think I am,” Finn answered. He went over their fabricated list of dates in his head – very important to learn, since this was also what they’d be telling Stephanie when she asked.

He was a bit jittery with nervousness, to be totally honest. It would be a very tricky operation, having Neville around. On the one hand, convincing Neville that he now liked Sami should be very easy; on the other, if he went too far, Sami would realise the truth as well, and would want nothing more to do with Finn at all. He’d have to find some kind of balance, some way to tell Neville what was going on while getting Sami to believe it was still all a joke.

“How do you think we should... what should we say?” Neville was due to show up in the park at any minute, and Sami seemed to be undergoing some anxiety of his own, fussing with the picnic basket. Finn’s brows furrowed in concern just looking at him.

Play it cool. Reassure your friend that it’s just a joke, that even if Neville didn’t think they were a good fit for one another that they could easily explain it was all for fun. It’s just a joke.

He twined his arms under Sami’s from behind, like a good fake boyfriend might, and settled his shoulder on Sami’s chin. “We’ll figure it out, _babe_ ,” he said, teasing. It was enough to make Sami smile, Finn could feel him smiling from where their faces were pressed together, and the Canadian scratched at Finn’s temple affectionately.

“There you two are! I’ve been lookin’ all over,” said a Geordie accent behind them. Finn resisted the urge to leap apart like he’d been caught doing something wrong. _This is the entire point_ , he chided himself, _now he can ask you and Sami about it, and then that’ll be out of the way. Another section of The Plan complete. Soon we’ll be able to move on._

Sami and Finn turned as a unit, shuffling awkwardly to avoid breaking the hug. Standing before them was Neville, hair casually pulled back and wearing a button-down despite the heat. He held up a Frisbee.

“Figured we could toss this around a bit while we’re here; it’s a nice day out.” Sami and Finn waited for him to say anything more, each cocking their head slightly to listen, but Neville only stared back at them blankly.

“Right! Erm, good idea! D’you want to eat something first? Babe?” Sami stressed the last word at Finn, who followed suit as he stepped away to pick up the picnic basket.

“Yeah, _darling_ , it looks like there’s enough shade under that tree for the three of us.”

“Good call. D’you happen to bring any ham sandwiches?”

Sami and Finn shared another glance, frowning. “....Yes,” said Sami finally. “We did.”

 

They wound up playing Frisbee first, none of them hungry enough to eat yet. Finn at first questioned Sami’s logic of suggesting they play teams, two-on-one keepaway against Finn, but it all became clear when Sami did a particularly tricky shot and smirked at Finn cheekily until Finn got him in a flying tackle. Neville cheered Sami on as they rolled on the ground, laughing.

Even when it was the three of them more equitably passing to one another, Sami and Finn still found excuses to grab each other’s hands when retrieving a missed toss or congratulating each other on a successful one. Once, when Finn was preparing to throw the disc to Neville, Sami came up behind him, settling his hands on Finn’s hips. Even though everything was only pretend, _it was only pretend_ , everything went electric. The hair seemed to stand up on Finn’s arms, feeling Sami’s breath on the back of his neck like that, Sami’s hips swaying gently just behind him.

He fumbled the pass.

“Boo! Pathetic!” yelled Neville with a grin. Blushing furiously, Finn picked the Frisbee off the ground and threw it properly. It soared way too high above Neville’s head, and he had to jog to get it.

“Sorry,” said Sami sheepishly. Finn shook his head, _it’s fine_.

Each time they made contact, or called out _nice catch, babe,_ Sami and Finn grinned at each other widely. Finn managed to bury his emotions under layers of eyebrow wriggling to communicate ‘do you think he’s buying it?’ to his partner in crime. It _was_ fun, playing at this game together, trying to trick Neville into buying that they were a couple. It was a special thing, just for the two of them, a secret project that involved hugging and grinning and winking proudly at every interval. They were so good at this.

An American football landed in the middle of their game. The three foreigners each stared at it for a moment, then up at the college student standing on the other side of the park, who clapped at them and waved for someone to pass it back. After an awkward moment, Finn silently picked it up and walked it over.

“So uh... lunch?”

 

Sami and Finn simply could not figure out how Neville was being so oblivious, even after all their efforts.

“We’re spending every day together until Finn heads back down,” Sami blurted out, in yet another attempt to tip him off as to the nature of their (fake) relationship, but Neville only nodded.

“Yeah, I bet. Too bad you can’t get a full week together because of the draft,” he said between bites of potato salad.

Finn tried his luck, wrapping an arm around Sami’s shoulders for clarification. “I actually flew in for a meeting with Stephanie.”

“Oh?”

“Aye, about revealing our relationship.”

“That’s nice. Hope it went well.”

Sami fell backwards into Finn’s lap in frustration. Finn shrugged at him.

“Hey Sami, you have another match against Jericho soon, yeah?”

Sami confirmed without sitting back up, and he and Neville started to talk about Jericho’s moveset, comparing strategies that had worked or not worked for each of them. Finn started out listening, he’d seen all of their matches even if he had yet to fight the man himself, but his eyes kept drifting back to Sami’s head in his lap.

His hair _did_ look softer since it had been cut. And now they were out in public like this, Finn _was_ Sami’s fake boyfriend, right? He had all the privileges that a boyfriend would have. He was allowed.

Sami gestured wildly in the air, hands sculpting the words as they left his mouth. Neville seemed to be focussed on that, on the words Sami was saying. So it would be fine if...

Finn sank his fingers deep into the russet and gold curls. It was heavenly; as soft as he’d ever imagined, wavy and still fluffy, as Sami had promised. He pulled back and sank his fingers in again, like he was kneading dough, running his hands through the top, the sides, brushing hairs off Sami’s forehead to show his face better.

Sami made a small, happy noise and _beamed_ at Finn for a second, and for that second, Finn felt like the entire world was bright and wonderful. Then Sami turned his attention back to what Neville was saying, making only the smallest, happy moans every now and then. And Finn, with full permission, continued to run his fingers through Sami’s beautiful hair, massaging his scalp slightly, combing through the curls with his fingers, brushing them this way and that.

It was a magical afternoon.

 

Their final attempt to convince Neville that they were a couple (“See you tomorrow! Finn and I are going to go home now, _together_.”) didn’t seem to faze him any more than the previous dozen, so Sami and Finn left scratching their heads.

“I thought we were doing so well!” said Sami as they walked.

“I know! We were _super_ couple-y! Maybe it’s harder to convince people we’re fake dating than we thought.”

“ _I_ thought we were pretty convincing,” Sami muttered.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Finn kicked at a pebble, and they walked in silence for a bit. Finn tried to review what had happened, see if they’d made any mistakes.

“What if we aren’t doing enough to end up on Raw together?” Sami’s voice sounded quiet and weak; Finn slowed his pace to look at him, reaching a hand out reassuringly. “I... I don’t want to be stuck far away from you again for so long.”

“I’m _sure_ we’re doing enough to convince the McMahons,” Finn said. “We’re _great_ at this, the best ever. No one can withstand the combined forces of _two_ genius international wrestling superspies.”

It was enough to make Sami chuckle again, a bit of the brightness returning to his face. They continued walking.

“Sami, do you think...” Finn’s voice died unexpectedly, and it was a few seconds before it came back enough for him to try again. “Do you think... if we, umm, kissing?”

Sami stopped in his tracks, turning to stare at Finn with wide eyes. “Umm, kissing?”

“Yeah, maybe, if Neville – it might be more convincing if, we, umm.”

“Yeah, maybe that was the problem, if we, umm.” Sami was nodding.

“Only if you wanted to, of course. If you were comfortable.”

“Oh! Sure! I, ah, wouldn’t mind. And it’ll help us, with the pretending.”

Finn nodded quickly himself. For some reason looking at Sami was like looking at the sun; he couldn’t seem to focus on him, but couldn’t keep from trying, eyes flitting back and forth nervously. It was silly, it was dumb, it was the most foolish thing he’d ever done to bring this up, but it would help The Plan, so...

“Maybe we should practice now?”

Finn licked his lips. “I mean, it would be best. To practice. So it won’t look weird when we do it later.”

“Yeah,” Sami agreed, “later...”

They stood frozen for an age, standing dead still in front of one another, arms by their sides. Then, slowly, Sami took a step forward, then another step, then Finn’s arms rose up to meet him, then...

Finn lost the ability to breathe the moment Sami’s lips touched his; they tasted warm and soft. He groaned, embarrassingly, but Sami only wrapped a hand around the back of Finn’s head and kissed harder. Finn leant into the kiss, letting himself be walked back until his legs were pressing against the wall of the building, but his mouth was surging forward to meet Sami with what felt like all the strength in his body. He could feel Sami gasping in air whenever there was a gap in the contact, whenever the angles changed so as to kiss _more_ , kiss _deeper_. He was probably gasping too but couldn’t tell, couldn’t think about anything other than the feel of Sami’s beard against his own and how his fingers were twining in that red hair, teasing the brim of his collar. His head swam. The earth fell away beneath his feet.

After hours, days, they broke apart. Finn knew his face must be bright red. They were both panting, a little unsure of what to do with their hands that were now slipping from hair to the back of each other’s necks.

“Umm.” Quick, what’s the most platonic thing to say in this situation? “You’re a really good kisser, mate!” Finn laughed, a little too quick and high pitched. If they’re doing this as friends, then he can compliment his friend, right? Sami’s clearly comfortable with this level of friendship, right?

Sami nodded hard by way of returning the compliment, face flushed. “Was it... convincing? Do you think?”

God, far too convincing. Probably one of the most _convincing_ kisses Finn had ever had in his life. He bit his lip. Sami seemed to focus on that instead of prompting Finn to respond.

“Erm, probably?” Finn managed at last, shoving his hands into his pockets. It’s normal to feel things after a kiss, even if it’s only a kiss from your best friend. Your best mate who you’ve been hopelessly crushing on for years and now there was no hope of ever going back, not now Finn knew how amazing Sami’s kisses felt when he wasn’t even trying. A dry laugh like a sob made its way out of him, but only one. It’s not Sami’s fault Finn felt this way. No need to make him feel guilty. “I mean, if we ever _had_ to do it again, I reckon we could pull it off pretty well.”

Sami nodded, still staring at Finn’s mouth. “Yeah... if we had to...”

Finn wondered how soon they would find a reason for doing it again. He wondered if he could suggest they needed more practice, but discarded the idea immediately. If there was one thing on the planet that did not need improving, it was Sami’s kissing ability. Besides, Finn wasn’t sure he’d survive. He’d already let himself get too close. It was going to be hard to keep Sami convinced he was in this for just normal friendship reasons.

What kind of a scumbag was he, to take advantage of Sami’s friendship like this? All Sami had wanted was for them to be able to spend time together again, and Finn was thinking _things_ like that, like the feel of his lips, like curling his fingers around the back of Sami’s neck, sullying Sami’s pure intentions. It was disgusting.

Finn adjusted his trousers and they started walking again.

“Sorry this week has been so weird,” Sami said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“No, mate, it’s fine! We got to hang out all we wanted anyway, and I’ve been having fun!”

“Yeah!” Sami’s laugh sounded relieved, sort of. “Yeah, me too. It’s been lots of fun.”

“Weird, but nice. I don’t mind it.”

“I’m glad. Me neither.”

 

Finn said goodbye to Sami from outside the building again. He didn’t want to go up to Sami’s flat, didn’t want to be alone with him in private, _not dating_ , and have the horrible awkwardness return. He didn’t want to have to be alone with him, not now, not when his head was all over the place and he didn’t know how well he could hide _wanting_. Lately it was getting harder and harder to pretend. Some time apart, getting back into the swing of regular friendship, it would do him good.

 

Finn flew back to Orlando the next day. He wished he could stay another day to... Well, there really wasn’t any point in staying another day. Besides, the Draft was on Tuesday, and he needed to be at the performance centre for that; regardless of whether he was one of the NXT picks, he wanted to be there for Bayley and all the others who would be. And everything would be fine. He’d worked hard to get here, and either main roster show would be a magnificent reward for that hard work, if the commissioners saw fit to choose him.

Before his plane took off, he received a text. _Have a safe flight, angel!_

He swallowed, then replied, _You too, in your match later._

Sami sent back a delighted emoji for the pun. Finn smiled, and wondered if he should say... He definitely shouldn’t say it, should he? They hadn’t yet, even though it was all pretend. Even though Fake Finn was leaving his fake boyfriend and it would be appropriate to say, he shouldn’t. Should he?

While he stared at the screen in worry, he received one more text from Sami. _I’ll see you very soon._

The plane began to taxi, so Finn turned off his phone and refused to think about anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dropped the ‘Hiding’ from the title! I feel like it’s bad fic etiquette to change words around in your title partway through, but it was just so clunky, this is much better.
> 
> Anyway, this was the chapter where I discovered fake dating is just as hard to write as it is to read. I just. Listen. I just. When they were at the park, before the museum? Sami was watching Finn fall asleep on him, twice. He didn’t stop it at all. Okay, I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that.


	3. Fallout Episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Finn and Sami don't talk about their feelings

Six days isn’t a very long time, and it flies by even faster when you’re trying to avoid talking about something. Somehow, Sami and Finn managed to congratulate each other on being drafted _and_ send their required Couple Texts all through the next week without once bringing up the ‘dating’ thing. Finn felt a little like he was holding his breath, like he was hoping Sami hadn’t _noticed_ that they were pretending to date only to ensure the draft went their way, hoping Sami would _forget_ or something now that this routine of sappy ‘good mornings’ was part of a trick.

He definitely _had_ been holding his breath during the entire half hour where he’d been drafted but Sami wasn’t. His heart had been racing for so many different reasons – he’d finally done it, he’d made it, he was one of the _first_ picks. But when the initial rush had died down and he’d hugged Bayley for the fourth time, Finn had begun to worry that they’d been supposed to provide their ‘evidence’ before he left and hadn’t, or that Stephanie would leave it for too long and Sami would be chosen by Smackdown before she called his name. It didn’t make any sense; Sami was the best wrestler in the entire company, for them to wait until the third round of picks to choose him had been _ludicrous_. And there was the sinking feeling, too, that if Sami got sent to Smackdown, Finn would have to see him sad. He’d have to tell Sami, _no, it’s okay, it was a good plan, it just didn’t work out_ , and Sami would still be sad and this time there would be no grand plan Finn enact to help him and fix it.

But they did both get drafted to Raw, and minus a handful of overjoyed phone calls, they did not talk about anything until the next Monday.

Hell, somehow he’d managed to talk more to Stephanie about his fake relationship than he had talked to Sami – sometime amidst the contract signings, meetings with creative to discuss his new titantron entrance, and looking for flats to rent near headquarters, she had casually mentioned to him that management were talking between themselves about how best to release the information and that they would be in contact with him and Sami when it got closer to time.

“What a scoop for Raw to get you both,” she had said, and if Finn were less polite a person he would have described her grin as 'predatory.' “You are going to be a power couple to be reckoned with. My idiot brother won’t have anything that compares.”

“...Right,” Finn had replied, his heart freezing in his chest. “I know we’re both looking forward to working together.” That much was true, he was pretty sure, he was pretty sure he and Sami had said something like that to each other back at the start. But he’d never put much thought what would happen _after_ they were dating. Or after they had stopped dating. Or stopping dating. Oh shit.

After that conversation, he’d hurried back to his hotel to have an anxiety attack in his room, cell phone in hand, torn between messaging Sami because _they needed to talk about this, it was going to end and they needed to talk about how_ , and... Horribly, guiltily, Finn _didn’t_ want to message him. All it took was not saying anything, and he and Sami could keep _doing_ this, could keep saying sweet nothings and giggling into each other’s shoulders. All it took was Finn not making that phone call, and he could live the dream a little longer until it all inevitably came crashing down in some horrible catastrophe.

The right choice was so obvious it could barely be called a choice, but Finn still didn’t take it. He clung to his dark-screened phone until the anxiety passed and his breathing settled. This would be a trainwreck, he was an idiot because he knew he was deliberately standing by and letting it happen, but... on some sick, short-sighted, self-defeating level, Finn _wanted_ to have more of this, another week, another _hour,_ wanted it more than he cared about having to be on the mic in front of thousands at some point in the near future when corporate made the announcement, and have to admit he’d been lying to everyone.

He hadn’t been lying. But that didn’t matter. He’d still have to say he was.

(He probably wouldn’t be fired, the contract he’d signed yesterday had been for three years. They’d probably move him permanently downcard instead of breaking it.)

So he said nothing, didn’t say a word to Sami until night fell and Sami texted him, _Better get your beauty rest! You’ll want to look good for your big debut tomorrow, angel!_

Finn laughed, all his worries forgotten, so easy to push aside when he was talking and joking with Sami. _I don’t think there’s enough sleep in the world for that, babe, but I’ll try._

Sami took a more than fifteen minutes to reply after that text was delivered. _You know you’re incredibly hot, right? So hot it’s hard to think clearly sometimes._

Finn felt himself turn beet red as he was overcome with a giggling fit, and for the second time that evening he found it hard to breathe. If he’d been able to think beyond ‘uncontrollable giddiness,’ he would have been relieved that Sami wasn’t there, because Finn could _not_ take a compliment, not even a fake one. It was a little embarrassing. Still blushing, he wiped a tear from his eye before he was able to respond. _Sounds like you need sleep more than I do, silly. Get to bed! I’ll see you tomorrow._

It was a few minutes again before Sami replied, a simple, _Goodnight, Finn._

Finn rolled over, still feeling giddy and happy. They _would_ see each other tomorrow, for the first time in over a week, and it would be Finn’s birthday, and he would _finally_ debut on Raw, and... and any problems could be dealt with later.

 

If Finn had been on a high that night, it was nothing compared to the next day. The board had three timeslots marked as ‘TBD.’ Excited murmurs filled the backstage; clearly the first post-draft Raw was going to start with a bang. And then it _did,_ and Finn’s heart was _soaring_ from the surprise of a new sign like him to be picked as a contender for the most prestigious belt in the federation.

He stepped forward proudly as his name was called, then, hoping the cameras had moved off him, looked over to his left as subtly as possible. Sami was already leaning forwards, breaking into a relieved smile as he caught Finn’s eye and waved. They were _here._ They were doing this.

The matches went by in a blur. Finn took some pleasure from laying into Kevin a little bit, could see Cesaro felt the same way. And there were two three counts, two pins, and Finn was on his way to _SummerSlam, he was really going to face Rollins for the Universal Title._ Even though he’d fought two difficult matches, even though his back was sore and by rights he should be exhausted, Finn hit the showers feeling like he could run a marathon, feeling like he could have that title match _right now_ and win it.

Sami was the only one in the locker room when he got out, already dressed. They stood in front of each other, grinning, and then ran together for a fucking excellent hug. Sami laughed in his ear, the sound swelling to fill the room.

“We did it!” Finn said breathlessly, quickly adding “We made it to Raw!” just in case Sami thought he was talking about convincing people they were dating. He didn’t really want to run the risk of talking about that in the past tense just yet.

“We did it!” Sami agreed.

“And I...” Finn lost his train of thought because Sami had pulled back a little to smile at him, and looked as bright and beautiful as a bromeliad in the sun.

“And you’re about to kick Seth’s ass for the Universal Championship!” Sami completed, and Finn laughed because he felt dizzy because it was _true._ They stood there, beaming, arms wrapped loosely around one another, and then something snapped and the next thing either of them knew, they were kissing.

It was everything like the first time and nothing like it at all. Finn felt _hungry._ It was like Sami’s lips were a drug, every brush of them intoxicating and overwhelming and burning like fire but Finn needed _more,_ couldn’t stop, needed Sami.

He felt Sami’s fingers tugging in his short hair, tilting his head back and then Sami was sucking at Finn’s bottom lip, _biting_ it, and Finn couldn’t hold back a small whimper as arousal coursed through him. His hands found the hem of Sami’s shirt and pulled it over his head, the two of them breaking apart only to come crashing back together again.

His fingers dug into Sami’s back, pulling him closer. Sami felt warm, he felt so warm, so warm and soft and strong and Finn never wanted to let go. He felt Sami inhale sharply, and then one of Sami’s hands was at Finn’s waist, _oh god_ , and slowly trailing its way upwards. Sami’s thumb dipped into Finn’s abs, pressing down slightly, and Finn nearly choked in surprise. His heart was pounding in his chest so hard he was sure Sami must be able to hear it. Then Sami’s hand reached Finn’s nipple, brushed it gently and Finn did have to break the kiss, pressing his forehead against Sami’s and screwing his eyes shut as he tried to catch his breath, but Sami pulled him back in.

Fuck breathing, Finn didn’t need to breathe, he only needed Sami, _Sami,_ he clung to Sami for dear life as their bodies pulled closer to each other, tongues grappling, and they-

“Yo, birthday boy, ya in here?”

They leapt apart, and a second later Enzo Amore kicked the door open with a _hi-yah._

“There you are! Hurry up and get some shirts on, you two, Cass n’ I are gonna treat ya to a veritable temple of international Oat Cuisine to celebrate, does that sound awesome or does that sound awesome?”

 

“There I was, battery dead and Cass here still saying he’s too busy chasin’ down the fuckin’ pair of sawft boys to carry me, and I _still_ gotta take a leak, right? So in the most un-freakin-dignified moment of my life, this G right here decides to – hey Finn, want a top up?” Enzo gestured with the bottle of rum he was keeping carefully below the level of the table.

Veritable temple of haut cuisine though it may be, IHOP still didn’t allow drinking on the premises.

“Hit me again,” Finn said, sliding his newly refilled glass of Coca Cola across the table; a little sloshed over the sides from the stickiness of the formica. Finn considered himself a fairly rule-abiding sort of guy in general, but it was his birthday and that had happened had felt pretty great, and if he was gonna regret his actions in the morning then he might as well spend the night drinking in a twenty-four hour pancake chain with his mates.

He was pretty sure, as he slumped back in the booth with his third rum and coke of the evening, pretty sure that Sami kept looking at him out of the corner of his eye, but Finn didn’t let himself think about it. The booths were small, so every time he sat back his shoulder brushed against Sami’s, and every time any of them told an increasingly embarrassing and ridiculous story he got to hear Sami’s laugh mix with his own. Finn’s brain felt fuzzy and Enzo’s hair was flopping all over the place and Cass looked _strange_ with both halves of his chest covered even though he and Finn had hung out in street clothes before, and Sami felt so solid beside him. Everything was over-salted, over-sweet and over-funny, and Finn could feel himself melting a little into his seat as he toyed happily with the last of his scrambled eggs.

“And that ain’t nothin! Why, this one time-”

“Enzo,” Cass interrupted, “you’re about to tell the turkey story.”

“No I’m not, how the hell you know I’m about to tell the turkey story?”

“Zo, you told me to always stop you when you get drunk enough to tell the turkey story. ‘Member what happened that time I didn’t?”

Enzo screwed up his face as he apparently wracked his brains, then his eyes went wide in horror. Finn and Sami both giggled madly.

“Shit, you’re right Cass,” he said. “Maybe it is time to call it a night.”

Cass ruffled Enzo’s Mohawk, digging out his wallet while Enzo dug out his phone. “How you doin’ Finn, want us to call you two an Uber as well?”

“Nah, I’m alright, the fresh air’ll perk me up anyway,” Finn assured them. He wasn’t a full three sheets to the wind; two and a quarter, at most. Perfectly alright to wander to the nearest bus stop.

“I’ll get you home,” Sami said.

“Yeah? You sure?”

“Of course! Plus it’s your birthday. Can’t have you wandering about all alone out there.”

Sami’s smile was so beautiful, there was no way he could say no.

 

Finn had been right, the fresh air did perk him up. He rolled down the window as Sami drove, sticking his head out to be buffeted by the wind, watching the streetlights flash by.

“You’re like a puppy,” Sami chuckled. Finn retracted his head.

“Yeah? Am I your Finn-puppy?” he teased. Sami smiled at him, and Finn wondered how drunk he’d actually been because Sami’s smile sure was making his head spin right now.

“I dunno, a dog’s a big responsibility. Would I have to take you outside every day to run around?”

“You do anyway,” Finn pointed out, and they both laughed some more. That had been one thing they’d talked about since the draft, making plans to rent kayaks again and go biking. It was nice.

“This alright, or do you want me to take you all the way back to the hotel?” Sami asked, pulling up outside his apartment building.

“It’s fine, I’ll kip here,” Finn said.

“Sorry, I didn’t really think ahead,” Sami said as he opened the door, flipping the light on. He tossed his keys onto the counter and picked a pillow off the couch awkwardly. “I would have prepared a guest bed or something, but...”

Finn shut the front door behind himself, and only then did it strike him that he was standing in Sami’s flat again, just like last week. Only this time it was two AM and Sami was staring at him with an odd expression and Finn felt warm. He’d felt so uncomfortable last time they’d been in this room together, everything had been off slightly, and he’d worried so much it would always feel that way but right now Finn didn’t feel anything except an overwhelming desire to kiss Sami again.

In a way, that was probably the worst part of the fake dating; that it let his brain think sometimes that acting on that impulse would be a good idea.

Finn swayed slightly, trying to remember the _downsides_ to kissing Sami. There definitely were some, a lot probably, he’d been really sure of that very recently, but things were a bit hazy for some reason right now.

Sami gestured with the pillow. “Finn? If you want, I could...”

Finn’s heart pounded. “I mean, it’s really alright, I-”

“No, no, I should-”

“I mean, if you don’t want-”

“It’s fine really if-”

“Wouldn’t want to impose-”

 “It’s no trouble to-”

“We could just-”

“-I could make up a bed for you on the sofa!”

“I don’t mind sharing!” Finn blurted, at exactly the same moment as Sami completed his suggestion. His entire body flushed red, and they stared wide-eyed at each other for a second. “I’ll take the sofa,” Finn amended hastily, the silence a thousand times louder than their overlapping babble. “The sofa’s a much better, I mean, great, it’s great, it’s a great idea.”

“Are you sure?” Sami’s voice sounded strange.

“Yup!”

“I’ll... get you some blankets.”

Sami left the room once they were retrieved, and Finn crawled under them, groaning in shame. There was no question about it, _that_ had to be the worst thing he’d ever said in his life. Suddenly, every cell in his brain was completely sober and vividly remembering exactly why he’d had anxiety attacks all week over exactly how bad this friendship was definitely about to fuck up.

No, _had_ been fucked up. Right here, thirty seconds ago, that was when the trainwreck had happened. Crash. Boom. No survivors.

Just as Finn was about to _really_ get into mental self-flagellation, Sami’s footsteps came back into the living room. Finn peeked his eyes over the top of one cover. Sami was coming back in, pillow under one arm and dragging a duvet behind him. He lay the pillow down on the floor by Finn’s head, and made a little nest of the blankets.

“Thought I’d keep you company.” Sami’s voice still sounded odd.

“Oh,” was all Finn could think to say, his nose just slightly poking over his own blankets.

Sami curled up, his back to the sofa. “Goodnight, Finn.”

Finn settled himself down on the cushions. Sami was sleeping shirtless and his shoulder looked so soft and near, like he could slip his arm under it and pull him close. “Goodnight, Sami.”

Perhaps shame and mortification weren’t as sobering as Finn had assumed, because the world definitely felt topsy-turvy right now.

 

Finn woke up drooling onto the blanket, arm flopped off the side of the sofa to rest in Sami’s hair. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what had happened; the memories hit him at the same time as Sami mumbling something in his sleep, causing Finn to snap his arm back like he’d been shocked and climb over the back of the sofa in terror. He fell to the ground with a thump. By some miracle, Sami didn’t wake up.

He had – he had _kissed_ Sami. Or Sami had kissed him? No, he _must_ have kissed Sami. But in _private._ And then he’d said – horrible things, and Finn’s face was heating up just thinking about it. He scrabbled over the side of the sofa to find his trousers – had he taken them off during the night? – pulled them on over his boxer briefs, patted himself down to make sure he had his wallet, and fled.

All he would have to do, Finn figured, was focus on being the best wrestler in the company. That was all. He could do that. He was a pretty great wrestler. Just get that energy out, stop bothering his friend with it, and all of this would probably die down on its own. Sami was really polite, he probably wouldn’t bring last night up, and maybe he would even stay friends with Finn. That would be great. But it definitely didn’t matter, because Finn’s definite only goal right now was to stop making terrible decisions, stop getting drunk in family restaurants in the small hours, and pour all his energy into acting normal and doing wrestling.

 

And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for Seth _fookin_ Rollins.

Sami might have tried to talk to him during the week, hopefully give him a chance to apologise, but Finn had been too busy preparing for his match and also dying of shame. Luckily they had house shows to keep them busy: Raw was far more intensive than even NXT had been.

And then Monday rolled around, with Sami main eventing – _definitely_ too busy to want to talk to Finn, the Irishman reasoned, as though they hadn’t stayed on the phone together right until the bell rung for title matches in the past. But it definitely made sense now for them not to talk, right? Finn nodded to himself as he wandered into the ring to confront Seth. Yeah. Definitely made sense.

Seth’s promo, on the other hand, _didn’t_ make sense. Finn couldn’t put his finger on why. At first he thought it might be because Seth’s laugh was that much more grating in person – Sami had mentioned it would be, apparently Dean’d told him – _no_ , _Finn, focus_. Then he thought maybe it was how Seth tried to insult the new Ghostbusters, even though Finn and Sami had both agreed after their date that Melissa McCarthy was definitely funnier in it than Bill Murray had been; like Sami’d said, she had – _No._ No. Finn needed to concentrate, he was in the ring with his SummerSlam opponent, he couldn’t have Sami on the brain, it was too distracting. He kept hearing Sami’s name everywhere lately.

“...Or how about you get eyes on this ring later on when I take on your little pal _Sami Zayn_ , one on one, and make an example out of him?” Seth sneered.

The world slowed to bullet time.

 _That_ had been real, Seth _had_ said Sami’s name. Finn wasn’t hearing things this time.

Seth had also licked his lips as he said it, leering slightly. Had he – did he know? What the hell was going on? Was it happening now, the announcement?

Seth must have realised he’d won one over Finn, because he smirked and kept talking; Finn only recovered in time to shout, “The only thing getting handed to you at SummerSlam is your arse!” _Please hit me, please hit me_ , he prayed. _I want you to hit me so I can hit back, please hit me._ Seth did, and Finn kicked him straight out of the ring.

“And Sami’ll do the same to you later, you’ll see!” he yelled to Seth’s retreating form, blind to Seth’s insults and threats. There was a weird rushing sound in his ears.

Stephanie met Finn backstage, shaking her head with a smile.

“That Seth,” she said, as though she was talking about a misbehaving pet and not a total dildo of a man. “I’m sorry, I hope he didn’t startle you; I don’t know where he picks these things up, but,” – a shrug – “he just does! He’s always been sharp. It’s not a problem, is it?”

“No,” Finn told his employer. “No, not a problem at all, why would it be?”

“Wonderful!” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “Now, you’d better watch this match closely! After all, only three more weeks until SummerSlam!” Stephanie beamed at him before walking away.

 

Of course Finn would have watched the match anyway, he loved seeing Sami fight. Sami had an incredible body, incredible power, incredible spirit; watching him made all the noise of the world fade away. Except for today. Because today, it was the overlapping voices of the commentators that Finn heard.

 “You know, there’s lots of _parallels_ between Finn Balor and Sami Zayn? They’ve been ‘best friends’ for years, all through NXT...”

“They are _very similar,_ in ring and out...”

“Looks like Seth wants to make an example out of Sami Zayn to send a message to Finn Balor...”

“...Or could it be that Sami Zayn has something to prove? Trying to _make a statement_ by defeating Seth for Finn?”

By the time Sami arrived backstage covered with sweat, Finn was about as red-faced as if _he_ was the one who’d just finished a twenty-minute bout.

“Great match!”

Sami smiled ruefully. “It wasn’t _that_ great.”

“Ah, come off it! You know winning isn’t everything, and you sure gave Rollins some lumps he’s not gonna forget in a hurry.” Sami’s grin widened as he accepted Finn’s hug.

“I guess I did manage to get some of our point across,” he acknowledged.

“Ah, yeah. I’m sorry about that. You got kind of mixed up in my-”

“No, don’t be!” interrupted Sami. “I mean, that was the whole point of all this, wasn’t it? So I guess our plan did work eventually. And Stephanie told me they’d start pushing us at some point; I guess I didn’t realise it would be so soon.”

“Right,” said Finn, still not entirely sure what to make of everything. “I guess I thought we’d have a chance to talk about it before the announcements were made.”

“I’ve been busy,” Sami muttered, staring down at his boots.

“Yeah, me too!” Busy staying up late, flirting with his fake boyfriend to fabricate fake evidence for their fake relationship. “Erm, Sami, on commentary they were saying -”

“I heard some of it,” Sami said, blush creeping down his shoulders as he continued to stare at the floor.

“Right. So... should we... talk? About it? ...Now?” Finn chewed on his thumb anxiously. Sami lifted his head to stare at some distant point over Finn’s shoulder.

“Erm, maybe?”

They were both silent for a few minutes.

“It would probably be bad if we told Stephanie we’d been lying to her this whole time...” Finn said eventually.

“Wouldn’t it?” agreed Sami, suddenly smiling again. “I bet Stephanie would _hate_ any wrestler who used a relationship for power in the company!”

“Especially a fake one!” said Finn. He and Sami were patting each other’s arms in excitement as they built on each other’s words.

“Yes! We _can’t_ stop now!”

“Of course we can’t!”

“We’ll have to _continue_ faking it, at least for a while, and we can break up later!”

“We’ll _have_ to!” agreed Finn, nearly yelling with excitement. “Because we can’t let the fans down either!”

“ _Definitely_ not the fans, they’re the most important people to consider in this,” nodded Sami.

“Quite. So we’ll just break up later!”

“Exactly,” Sami agreed. “Later.”

“I’m glad we talked about it,” smiled Finn.

“Yeah! Me too!”

 

They got better at the kissing. Well, not better, how could anything be _better_ than kissing Sami, than feeling him melt against you, than feeling his soft skin against your own. Probably instead of ‘better,’ the term should be ‘more frequent.’ Which wasn’t _necessarily_ better, this was all fake anyway so qualitative descriptions were moot, but it did mean that Finn was able to turn and grab Sami any time they were out together, swinging his friend towards him and kissing him.

Sometimes they kissed for a long time. Sometimes Finn pushed Sami against a bench, pressing him back until he collapsed onto it, bending down and nibbling Sami’s lip while Sami groaned desperately. Sometimes Sami chose to lick around up the shell of Finn’s ear until Finn was trembling in his arms, eyes squeezed shut and trying to keep his knees from buckling.

Their hips always stayed a foot apart like it was a school dance, this didn’t _mean_ anything after all, but one time Sami’s hands did drop lower and lower down Finn’s back, pulling him in tight until they got to the top of his ass. Finn felt those strong fingers start to clutch through his trousers, and suddenly Sami squeaked and his palms shot all the way back up to Finn’s shoulders. Sami broke the kiss and panted onto Finn’s neck, breaths hot and wet. Finn felt a certain tightness around his heart. Sami must have been thinking of someone else.

It certainly made their bike rides together that much more thrilling. Touring too. And so, with one thing and another, those stolen weeks passed until SummerSlam. Finn felt better than ever.

 

The crowd roared and cheered, on their feet as Finn climbed the ropes, championship on his arm. He felt a little off, couldn’t lift it into the air like he wanted to, but _he’d done it._ He was champion.

 

He really did feel off, though. Still. It was normal to feel a bit battered around after a match.

Sami ran up to him backstage. “Finn, that was amazing! I-”

“Sorry Sami, I’m exhausted – just wanna get back to the hotel.” He’d had to pop his shoulder back in its socket during the match, but it _still_ hurt. Sleep should make it go away, he needed to let his body recover, but... It _really_ hurt.

“Oh,” said Sami. “Okay.”

He’d already been taken aside by Stephanie and Mick; he had to be up at seven tomorrow for a Good Morning America interview, and he’d be wrestling that evening as well as signing a contract for the rematch that Stephanie said Seth was insisting upon (even though Finn couldn’t see how Seth had got word to her so soon after the match had ended). The pain searing across his chest was very distracting, and he tried to remind himself that it was throbbing because he needed sleep and not because of Sami’s sad face.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? And once filming’s over, we can do a real night in New York.”

“Yeah,” said Sami. “See you tomorrow, I guess.”

Finn’s phone was quiet that evening.

 

Finn hadn’t got anything from Sami in the morning either, though it was reasonable that he’d not want to wake up that early since he was probably out all night celebrating his own win with Neville.

Sleep hadn’t helped his shoulder at all.

If anything, Finn felt worse than he had last night. A colourful bruise was starting to creep over his right side, dark and ominous like demon paint come to life. He sent a quick message to Mick and Stephanie, just in case.

By the time the interview finished, he was in agony, almost relieved to see in Mick’s reply that they were arranging to get some tests done. Under that conversation, Finn saw some new messages from Sami.

_Finn? What’s happening? Seth’s been saying things, I know he’s all talk but I’m worried._

_Are you okay?_

_Finn?_

 

The doctors said it was bad news. It was hard to keep from crying as he texted Mick that they’d need a new champion. After Mick replied, Finn shut off his phone.

_Finn, Mick just tweeted. Is this a storyline trick? Are you okay? How can I help?_

 

Finn walked to the ring as champion for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last time. It wouldn’t. He winced every time he had to adjust the belt that had been carefully lain over his shoulder, agony tearing through him.

Wasn’t it just his luck, to _look_ like he’d won the most prestigious title in the world but have it all be an illusion. To _almost_ brush true happiness, and have it be ripped away. To feel like all his dreams were coming true, when he should have known it was over before it even started.

And now he had to give up the belt.

“I want to thank the WWE for this opportunity,” he said, in the mic he struggled to hold. “I want to thank all the talent in the back. I want to thank Seth Rollins for giving me the match of my life. But most importantly I want to thank all of you.” _Thank you_ , he thought, closing his eyes.

The crowd chanted ‘Thank you Finn’ back at him.

He had to leave early to catch his flight to Alabama. He didn’t want sympathy from anyone backstage. It would only hurt more.

 

Finn woke up feeling groggy and muddled, and the doctor explained to him the injury had been worse than they’d even imagined. Surgery had gone overtime; now they were saying six months off instead of three. Maybe more.

He was still having trouble keeping his eyes focussed as he picked up his phone, swiping awkwardly with his left hand. It took two tries to get his password in. When he managed, there were messages from everyone, his family and friends. And at least two dozen were from Sami.

_Good luck!_

_I know you’re under anaesthetic right now, but I’m thinking of you._

_Finn? Are you out yet?_

_Finn, Mick said he’d tell me when he had any news, but this wasn’t supposed to take more than an hour. Are you okay?_

_God, I’m so scared for you, darling. Why is it taking two hours? Did they start late?_

_Hang in there!_

_Please be alright, angel, I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t alright. This is taking so long, I know there’s no reason to worry though._

_I’m so worried, Finn, I care about you so much and I want you to be alright but I know I can’t do anything but this is taking four hours and I’m so scared for you, angel, surgeries shouldn’t take this long but Mick hasn’t heard anything and I’m starting to panic because I don’t know what I’d do without you._

Finn scrolled to the bottom, vision blurring and thoughts blurring. Sami was worried? He was telling Mick he was worried too? Sami was really good at this stuff, texting him ‘darling’ and all that. Oh well. He sent out a mass text to everyone he could think of, typing some jumbled assortment of letters that hopefully read “ _im ok._ ” Probably the only advantage of having dirtsheets around would be that his loved ones were able to find out better information than he could give them, at least until he got on different pain meds and could think more clearly. The only thing he could do now was fall back asleep and hope they would transfer him to a smaller sling soon.

 

Finn spent the next several days puzzling over Sami’s words. It would be nice to think... Of course, Sami was only sticking to the protocol that they’d arranged for their text conversations. He was a genius international superspy after all. But Finn couldn’t help thinking... He realised he’d have to say something. He couldn’t keep reading Sami’s words the wrong way like this.

And if Sami stopped being his friend... Well, Finn was becoming an expert in losing things, wasn’t he.

Come Tuesday, Sami shuffled in awkwardly, only opening the door halfway like it was booby trapped. He pulled up a chair and sat by the edge of Finn’s bed, and if it wasn’t for the awkward way Sami was rubbing the back of his neck it would have felt almost like a funeral visit.

“Finn -”

“Sami,” Finn cut him off before he could go any further. “Sami, I know this would be a good time for us to pretend to break up, there’s no story for Stephanie and Mick anymore, but I want you to know that for me, none of it was fake. I meant every word.”

There. His chest didn’t feel any lighter; if anything his head and arm throbbed even more. Sami’s eyes grew wide and he stood suddenly, sending the chair back against the wall with a thud.

“Wait here,” he said gesturing to the hospital bed Finn was trapped in. He hurried out of the room in three long strides, then in again, door swinging open to reveal a red helium balloon with hearts on it.

His smile was like seeing the sun coming out from behind the clouds.

“I left it outside in case you didn’t feel the same way when I told you,” Sami explained. “I don’t want to pretend to break up either.”

All of the sudden nothing in Finn’s life had ever felt more thrilling or ridiculous than Sami standing next to his hospital bed with a helium balloon.

“Finn Balor,” said Sami, as seriously as he could through his grin, “will you be my real boyfriend?”

Finn reached out with his good arm and took the ribbon loosely in his fingers. The balloon drifted over to him. “You’re going to have to bend down,” he said, “because the doctors say I can’t get up yet, and I absolutely want to kiss my completely real boyfriend Sami Zayn.”

Sami laughed, bright and loud, and practically lay down on the bed in his enthusiasm. Their mouths crashed together, teeth bumping a little bit, but Finn felt it was probably the best kiss they had shared so far. Even though their angles were all wrong and Sami’s shoulder was squeezing the air out of the good half of Finn’s chest and their noses kept bumping, he finally had Sami against him, his Sami.

The balloon bobbed beside them.

“I’ve wanted to really kiss you for so long,” Sami admitted.

“Well why didn’t you? It was pretty obvious how I felt!”

“How on earth were you being obvious?”

“For a start, this is the exact same balloon I gave you!” Finn giggled against Sami’s lips. Sami pulled back, brows wrinkled.

“No it isn’t, that one ran out of air after four weeks,” he said.

The confusion on Sami’s face felt so familiar, exactly like how Finn had been feeling all month, and it felt like his heart was swelling with every passing second. “You kept my Valentines Day balloon for four weeks?” he asked.

“Of course?”

Finn covered Sami’s face with tiny pecks, as much as he could reach. “You’re a goof.”

“And _you’re_ an _angel._ ”

It felt good, so good, to have Sami laughing into Finn’s neck, pressing kisses to it as they teased. In hindsight, all their worries seemed so small. “Alright,” Finn promised. “Next time I fall head over heels for you for years on end, I’ll say something.”

“You’d better,” said Sami, nibbling Finn’s ear, and _that_ made him want things he couldn’t have in a hospital, so he turned his head, nudging Sami’s face with his own until they were kissing each other on the lips again, slow and long, all the time in the world.

“Oh, how sweet,” said a nurse, bustling inside to restock a cabinet. “Have you two been together long?”

They looked at each other and grinned. “I honestly have no idea,” said Finn. Sami laughed and kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Bonus Scene:**  
>  They couldn’t get _everyone_ gathered, since Bayley was busy signing her contract and Smackdown was touring elsewhere, but Finn still felt great when he and Sami walked into that room hand in hand. “Guys,” he said, pausing to smile stupidly at Sami until his boyfriend squeezed his hand to continue, “we’re dating!”
> 
> There was an unimpressed silence. “Yes, we know,” said Sasha finally.
> 
> Finn and Sami chuckled; they’d been expecting something like this, what with The Plan and all. “No, no, that was _pretend,_ now we’re dating for real!”
> 
> “Wait, are you serious?” Enzo asked.
> 
> “Yes, it’s a funny story actually! We-”
> 
> “All those years?”
> 
> “...What?”
> 
> Big Cass crossed his arms, examining them. “Yeah, we all figured you were dating since, I don’t know, 2014 October?”
> 
> “December maybe?” suggested Cesaro, scratching his head. “Definitely 2014 though.”
> 
> “What?! We never even kissed until a month ago!” Sami sputtered.
> 
> “Sure, you’ve been pretty discreet,” Neville dismissed, “but you fly to visit each other constantly! And you buy each other Valentines gifts!”
> 
> “Enzo and Cass do that for each other too!” defended Finn hotly. He wasn’t sure why everyone suddenly burst out laughing. Even Sami was looking at him oddly.
> 
> “Uhh, Finn?” he began, but before he could clarify anything he was interrupted by Sasha.
> 
> “Hang on!” she shouted. “Last Christmas, I gave you two a couples day at the spa and you didn’t even react!”
> 
> “We reacted!” said Sami. “We sent a thank you card!”
> 
> “Yeah, it was really nice to do something together that didn’t involve getting more sweaty!”
> 
> “ _This shit is why we thought you were dating!_ ”


End file.
